Bringing in the Bells

Firstly, Happy New Year. It is not only a new year, but a new decade. Merely by virtue of being alive I have now seen two millennia, two centuries and now five different decades - not bad for 32! 

In my house, New Year is the time of friendship and we didn't buck the trend. In what's become a tradition, we had a friend come stay with us on the 30th, and then we went to another friends (parents of our honorary neice and nephew) house for the bells. Missy was definitely ready for a party and we all played with hot wheels, then pass the parcel and then had dinner before moving onto more grown up games as the kids went to bed. Hubby had picked up the crystal maze board game and, with his best Richard Ayoade impression, was desperate to be games master. So as with years past, and hopefully those to come, the bells arrived to laughter, friendly rivalry and good food. What more could I ask from the year ahead? 

New Years Day presented the usual problems, what was open, where could we go that two young kids would enjoy and we can either bring Missy or won't have her left long. The Camera Obscura and World of Illusions stepped up to the plate for us and ticked all those boxes. Most importantly, open. Indoors, warm and dry and good for kids? Absolutely. And the best part, much to the delight of the little ones, dog friendly. 

We arrived for 11 and Missy was immediately fawned over by the staff. There was a lady in the queue who wasn't keen (read visibly rigid in terror) of dogs, and that was  absolutely fine and we offered to move Missy as far from her as possible. The Obscura runs a comfort policy, so Missy ran the risk of being removed to a different part of the building if she upset the lady too much, but she was as keen for us to have a nice time as her and her family to have one. It's always nice to come across someone who is reasonable about their phobia, too often the hubby and I have been screamed at for the mere presence of Missy, calm and relaxed and under control, at somewhere she is perfectly entitled to be at, so I always get a bit panicky about these things. 

Almost as soon as our hands were stamped and the first glimpse of wonder had been seen in the distance, the fire alarm went off. Sheer outrage and disappointment dissolved to delight once a fire engine showed up and my neice and nephew waved eagerly at the firemen - oh, to be five again when life's problems were so swiftly fixed. Thankfully the false alarm was quickly resolved and we got to skip the barmy of the newly forming queue and dashed straight up to the very top to see the Camera Obscura itself. 

Missy has visited in the past, so I won't go into too much detail except to say that the staff were just as friendly to us all, and that we had an absolutely fantastic day. Their hop in and out policy meant we could leave for lunch and then come back in when it got a little quieter again. Its the first time our friends have done an actual "attraction" with Missy, and they were all very impressed at her as she calmly mooched about and paid absolutely no attention to the crowds (except her admirers, of course, dogs aren't that common a sight at the Obscura, so I found myself promoting the policy a few times!) 

And that was the day. The 2nd was spent recovering from two back to back busy days and then I started the process of putting the house back together again as hubby was back in work. I have had a break from the tidying to get on with some sewing:

The one feedback from my attempt at a low waste Christmas? The presents could be seen. Solution? Gift bags with zippers, just in time for my eldest neices (15!) birthday. She was very pleased with her gifts and loved that her feedback had been taken on board. I suspect the bag will end up storing craft materials or something, so very pleased.

We also managed a games night with them, at 15 and 10, my eldest niece and nephew are now old enough to actually learn and play (nicely) proper games. Well, that's if you consider exploding kittens and throwing a burrito at one another as real games. 

(Side note, I'm not very good at exploding kittens, but I am the champion at throw throw burrito!) 

Here's hoping the year continues with good laughter!